Automated gaming devices or machines are manufactured in a great variety of types. A pull-tab machine is one such type of gaming machine. A player purchases game coupons from a pull-tab machine by feeding it cash or game tokens. Each game coupon has a hidden display area which can be revealed to indicate whether the game coupon is a winning coupon. Winning coupons can be redeemed for cash winnings, game tokens, or other prizes.
The game coupons themselves are commonly packaged in game coupon sets. Each game coupon set comprises a known total of individual game coupons and a known number of winning game coupons within the total. Individual game coupons usually have two piles: a facing ply and a backing ply. Serrated windows or tabs are formed in the facing ply of the coupon. The backing ply is imprinted with game symbols or other representations beneath the tabs. To determine whether an individual game coupon is a winning coupon, a player peels back the tab to reveal the game symbols. Winning game coupons are redeemed for cash or game coupons with a cashier.
FIG. 1 shows a typical prior art pull-tab machine, generally designated by the reference numeral 10. Pull-tab machine 10 comprises generally a coupon vendor 12 and a bill or currency validator 14, also shown schematically in FIG. 2.
Coupon vendor 12 comprises one or more coupon magazines 16, each receiving a vertical stack of pull-tab game coupons 18. Coupon vendor 12 further comprises a coupon dispensing slot 20 through which pull-tab coupons are dispensed. Bill validator 14 is mounted along the side of coupon vendor 12. Bill validator 14 is a standard and widely available device used in many types of vending machines for accepting and verifying denominated currency. Bill validator 14 issues a sequence of electronic pulses to coupon vendor 12 in response to receiving valid currency. Each pulse represents a specified cash amount or a specified number of game credits. Coupon vendor 12 accepts the electronic pulses from bill validator 14, crediting the player with game credits in response. The number of issued game credits is sometimes indicated by a numeric display 19. Thereafter, coupon vendor 12 dispenses individual game coupons at the player's command to the extent of the accumulated game credits.
Coupon vendor 12 includes a selection dispensing button 24 corresponding to each coupon magazine 16. Indicator lamps 26 are mounted above selection dispensing buttons 24 to indicate when the corresponding coupon magazines are available for selection. A player spends an issued game credit by depressing one of selection dispensing buttons 24, causing a game coupon to be dispensed from the corresponding coupon magazine 16. For each button depressed, the machine dispenses an individual game coupon and simultaneously subtracts a game credit from the player's total. Some machines dispense multiple game coupons if the corresponding selection dispensing button is held down, providing the player has enough game credits.
Each of coupon magazines 16 is typically loaded with a single set of game coupons. Since the coupon magazines and the game coupons stacked therein are usually visible, both players and the machine operator may monitor winnings to predict the odds as the number of coupons in each magazine is depleted. For instance, as the number of undispensed coupons decreases without a winner, the odds of winning become significantly greater. The number of winning coupons in each game coupon set, and their winning values, are usually known to players.
After receiving winning coupons, players must physically take them to the proprietor or cashier of the gaming establishment for redemption. An important disadvantage of a gaming machine such as that described above is that significant time and effort are consumed, by both the player and the proprietor of a gaming establishment, in redeeming winning game coupons for cash. Furthermore, during the time it takes to cash in a winning coupon a player sometimes loses interest in the game. The invention described below remedies this problem, allowing a player to continue a game without interruption while utilizing winning game coupons to purchase additional game credits.